States of Shock: A Vaudeville Nightmare

States of Shock: A Vaudeville Nightmare (2012)

by Sam Shepard

Directed by Ivan Henwood

All the colonel ever wanted was to toast the death of his son and have a nice desert. What follows is a narrative of magical realism as brutal as it is hilarious.

“In my judgement this surreal nightmare play scores a direct hit. Nelken and Chen deliver performances of almost frightening intensity. I would be remiss not to mention the contribution of Jane Walker, who in the role of Glory Bee, brings some much needed comic relief. I found this to be a gut-wrenching play, horrifying but impossible to take my eyes off of. The intimacy of the small venue puts the play right in the audiences’s face which I’m sure is how Shepard would have wanted it. I highly recommend you see this excellent drama.” — Terry Moor, UMFM